We are proposing to develop and implement a one-day pre-conference workshop entitled, "Tools and Methods for Monitoring Patient Safety: The Role of Medical Records Review." The workshop would be given on Saturday, March 1, 2003 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. prior to the AHRQ Patient Safety Initiative Second Annual Meeting, March 2-4, 2003 in Arlington, VA. The major goal of the workshop is to provide a forum for patient safety researchers who have used medical records review and those who are contemplating their use to discuss the role of medical records review for monitoring patient safety and identifying medical error and adverse events. Twenty researchers (10 from the U.S. and 10 from aboard) will be invited to participated in the workshop. Eric Thomas, M.D., MPH, principal investigator for the University of Texas Center of Excellence for Patient Safety Research and Practice and Richard Jimenez, Dr. PH cd., Director of the Center, will oversee the planning and implementation of the workshop. Topics to be discussed during the workshop include: "Using Medical Record Reviews for Measuring Quality and Detecting Errors and Adverse Events," a panel discussion on "Using Chart Reviews: Lessons Learned" and breakout sessions on chart reviews and reliability, the use of "triggers" in medical records to detect errors and adverse events, using chart reviews to monitor patient safety in medicare, and sharing international perspectives in the use of medical records review. Individuals with expertise and experience in the use of medical records review will be invited to speak at plenary sessions and to facilitate breakout discussions. We will generate a workshop summary report highlighting key issues and points made by participants. We will disseminate this widely to AHRQ grantees and other interested parties by posting the report on the AHRQ webpage and through mailouts. We anticipate preparing a manuscript on the workshop proceedings for publication in a suitable peer reviewed professional journal. The evaluation plan for the workshop includes an evaluation of the workshops by participants as well as an evaluation of the workshop experience by the coordinators.